Tandem draft connection.



l H. B'. SPERRY. I TANDEM DBAFIT CONNECTION. Y AFFLlCATIGN FILED MAY I?. i913 Patented Sept; 26, 1916.

Inveno vd Harina??? BQ/very, j

l 'STATEs PATEN'IY OFFICE."

nenne-Rr is.l sPEnnY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNon To INTER. iucrIoNaL,12m12- ,VESTEROOMPANY OF NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWjJEsEY.

` v TANDEII DRAFT CONNECTION To 'all whom z'tfmag/ concern Be itlniown that `I,' HERBERT n a citizen'of the United States, residing at B. SPERRY,

i' Chicago, in the y'county of Cook and State Iof, Illinois, lhave inventedl certain new and such, for instance, as a harvester which is adapted to be trailed at the rear of another machineand maintained, in predetermined relation threwith. Iattain this ob]ect by providing Improved means connecting the machine to the adjacent machine in such a v manner thatra's it is trailed in the rear of 7 `3hin'e"is vdirectly imparted to the trailing vembodiment of the same in the accompany frame; Fig.

theother;,the` movement .of the front ma- -machine and the two are always maintained in the desired relation.

.In order thatmy invention may be clearly 'and fully disclosed, I have illustrated one ing drawings, wherein the same is shown adapted to-use' in connection with a pluraliity of harvesters. It is to be understood., however, that the embodiment of my invention shown herein is susceptible of modication. Y

Figure 1 is a plan view of a pluralityof harvesters arranged in gang relation, traiL ing one at the rear of the other; Fig. 2 is a. detail view ofl a port-ion of the draft connection; Fig. 3 is a detail view of the connection ofthe draft cable to the harvester. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on line .4-4 of Fig. detail view of onepofth'e cable Connections; Fig. 6 is a to plan view'of a modified form of connectio to the flllflft @bien The` construction sii/myn, when broadly considered, comprises /a"'plu,ral1ty of. har vesters' 1 arranged rinthe `,Well known tandem relation and connected'to each' other, through improved means 1 nia-y be kof any desired construction. As shown herein, they are 'illustrated as left-hand' hari'esters and are a Speeication of Letters Patent.

lfront ends.

hereinafter de' scribed, in' such a Imanner as to successively impart to each other the movement of the" y Patented sept. 26, 1916'.

Application filed-lay 17, 1918. Serial No. 768,344.

to permit movement of either the ytongue or harvester relatively to the other. In a preferred form eachl of these stub tongues '2 is braced upon theharvester frame by a diag,-

tongue in avertical plane about its pivot 5 upon the -frame and are provided with suitably mounted. caster wheels 6 on their otal connection is made at a point adjacent the main wheel 7 of a harvester and in front of the same. i

Extending diagonally to the line of draft beneath the several vharvesters is a flexible draft member. or cable 8. If desired, this cable may be in a single length, or, where'it is desiredto vary the number of'harvesters at intervals, it maybe made up of a plurality of short lengths of cable attached toas shown lat 9 in Fig. 3 by looping It is to be noted that this piv onally'exte'nding, brace 4 movable with the their' adjacent ends in a well known manner'.

In whatever construction used,v the cable 1s ntothe under side of each harvester frame, as by bolts 10, at a point substantially beneath the pivot 3 of the stub tongue '2 and adjacent' the main wheel 7 in such a manner that the tractive force is exerted upon the frame of each harvester at that point. In order to prevent lateral swinging of the cable beneath the frame, the same is falso held in the'desired position beneath the same by a hook 11 upon the under side of the frame and at the back thereof. Y (Fig. 5i)

In Order to take up the slackv of the cable and )revent -the harvesters from riding forl war( on each other, I preferably provide on each cable a rigid stiifening member. This pipe, attached to the cable at its ends by a clamping connection 13, (Fig. i) and through which the cable extends. It is to be noted 'that this pipe 14 is of such a length that it does not in any wayy interfere withv the desired flexibility ofthe cableoi` 'at vany time so engage with the harvester frame ory other parts of the draft connec-' tions as to interfere therewith. As shownin asi .member is shown herein in the form of a- Fig. 1, this'pipe extends to a oint adjacent the connection 13 of the ca le 8 to the rear end of one harvester, and also extends to a point adjacent the stub tongue 2 on the next harvester in the rear thereof.

In order to place the harvesters under the control of their operators while running, I preferably provide connections intermediate the front end of the tongue 2 and a ioint between the ends of the pipe 14 whic are operable by the operator, These connections comprise a. link 15 preferably fixed to the pipe 14 by a suitable U-bolt and plate connection 1G and pivotally connected at its opposite end at 17 to an arm 18 movable with a sector 19 pivotally mounted upon a suitable bracket 2O on the end of the stub tongue 2. In a preferred form this bracket also acts as a .bearing for the shank of the easter wheel 6. Operatively connected to this sector 19-through a gear 21 and shafts 22 and 23, suitably connected through universal joints 24, is a crank member 25 which extends upward to a point adjacent the operators seat.

The operation of the construction shown is as follows: When the operator desires to change the angle or relation of the harvester upon which he is riding with respect to the next harvester, it is only necessary for him to rotate the crank member 25 in the proper direction to turn the sector 19 and thus throw the arm' 18 about its pivot. The movement of this arm- 18 is of course transmitted to the pivoted link 15, and since the latter 'is rigidly connected to the plipe 14, is also transmitted to the cable 8. he effect of this movement is to snub the cable closer to the draft tongue and since the tractive force i's'exerted upon the cable, swing the stub tongue and therefore the harvester, into the desired position. In thismanner the transverse movement of the harvester ma be adjusted as desired so that the widt of cut may be re ulated. Obviouslythe desired relation o the harvesters at a turn will be automatically maintained within certain limits without the necessity of this adjustment and what further readjustment is necessary after, or as the turn is made may be readily obtained by proper manipulation of the crank 25.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1, the pipe 14 is used to prevent the harvesters riding forward upon each other. However, when operating under certain conditions, this pipe may e found to be unnecessary; as, for instance during operation upon very level ground. nder suc circumstances the link 15 may be directly connected to the cable 8, as shown in FiO'LVG the vend of the link bemg fixed thereto 1n t e same manner as that shown in Fig. 2, andl the .mechanism o erating in all other respects vvilfsubstantially. thesame` manner. It is t'o be noted that in this construction the an lar movement of each harvester is direct y imparted to the trailing harvester without the necessity for the provision of additional reach bars and tongues. Further, since the cable is directly connected to the harvester frame at a point adjacent the main wheel, the tractive force is exerted directly upon each harvester at a point best calculated to give it its maximum eflect and the strain of traction is removed from the steering mechanism. Attention is further directed to the fact that the construction shown is not only exceedingly simple but also of a type which may be readily and cheaply manufactured, and is adapted to use in connection with harvesters of standard construction.

IVhile I have described one embodiment of my invention in this application, it is to be understood that the form shown herein may be modified without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a tandem draft connection, a machine framc, a tongue attached thereto, a flexible draft member attached to said frame and extending therefrom at an angle to said tongue, and means operatively connecting said flexible draft member intermediate its ends with said tongue for varying the angle' of said tongue relative to said draft member, whereby said tongue is yieldingly held at a predetermined angle relative to the line of draft. i

2. In a tandem draft connection, a machine frame, a fiexible draft member attached thereto and normally disposed at an angle to the line of draft, a slack absorbing member on said flexible draft member, and means operable from said machine frame for varying the angle of said draft member and slack absorbing member relative to the line of draft.

3. In a tandem draft connection, a machine frame, a flexible draft member attached thereto and normally dis iosed at an angle to the line of draft, a slack absorbing member onsaid flexible draft member and means operable from said machine rame and operatively connected to said slack absorbin member for var inl' the angle of said raft member an slack absorbing member relative to the line of draft.

1. In a tandem draft connection, a machine frame, a tongue pivoted thereto and movable in a vertical plane, a flexible draft connection attached to said frame at a point substantially beneath the pivot of said tongue and extending therefrom at an angle to said ton ue, and a link o eratively conneeting sai tongue with said flexible draft connection intermediate its ends and adjustable at will to vary the angle of said tongue relative to said flexible draft connection,

ics

whereby said tongue is yieldingly held *zat a 'predetermined angle relative to the line of draft. v

5. `In a tandem draft connection, a machine frame, a. tongue pivoted thereto, a flexible draft member'attached to said frame and extendingtherefrom at an angle to said tongue, and means for adjusting the angle between said elements comprising operative Y connections carried on said tongue vand attached to said flexible member at a point intermediate its ends, whereby said tongue is-yieldingly held at a predetermined angle relative to the line of draft.

6. 'In a tandem draft connection, amachine frame, a ltonguelattached thereto, a flexible draft member attached to saidframe and extending therefrom .at an angle to said tongue, a slack-absorbing' member carried on said flexible member, andlmeans for'adjusting the angle between said tongue and flexible member comprising link connections carried on said tongue and connected to said slack absorbing. member at a point intermediate its ends.

7.'In a tandem draft-connection,- a machine frame, a' tongue vpivotally connected thereto, a flexible draft connection attached to said frame at a point adjacent the pivot of said tongue and protruding from said frame at an angle with respect to said tongue, a

slack` absorbing nimlber fixed to said fiexi ble 'connection intermediate' the ends thereof and extending along the same, and means for adjusting said flexible connection with respect to said tongue carried upon said tongue and' attached to said slack absorbing 

